Towel holder



United States Fatent o" 3,430,877 TOWEL HOLDER Edward Berlet, 9 AdrianAve., Apt. 58, Bronx, N.Y. 10463 Filed Sept. 7, 1967, Ser. No. 670,507US. Cl. 24255.2 Int. Cl. B65 19/00 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURESummary of the invention My holder comprises a frame having an elongatedmember with first and second vertical legs secured to opposite ends ofthe member and extending downward therefrom. Each leg has a barreceiving opening. A horizontal bar extends between the legs and has oneend slidable in one of the openings. Means secured to the other end ofthe bar and cooperating with the other opening has a first position atwhich the bar is locked in the frame and a second position at which thebar can be slid through the other opening until the means is disengagedfrom the one opening and is free to have a roll of towels slidtherearound onto the bar; the bar can then be returned to its originalposition and locked into the frame to hold the roll in position for use,and by means of a threaded nut, the side pressure can be increased ordecreased.

Brief description of the drawings In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded View of certain parts thereof;

FIG. 3 is a detail side view of the parts of FIG. 2 in assembled form;

FIG. 4 is a side view of my invention; and

FIG. 5 is a detail end view of a portion of my invention as takenthrough 5-5 in FIG. 3, with portions removed for the sake of clarity.

Detailed description of preferred embodiment Referring now to FIGS. 1-5,there is shown a flat elongated member lying in a horizontal plane andhaving fiat legs 12 secured to each end and extending verticallydownward, these legs lying in parallel vertical planes which areperpendicular to the direction in which member 10 extends.

Each leg has a centrally disposed enlarged section 14. One section has acircular hole 16 therein; the other has a horizontal slot 18. Ifdesired, these sections 14 can be set inward of the main body of eachleg. The section 14 including the slot 18 has four equidistantly spacedprojections 50; two such projections being spaced above the slot 18 andtwo projections being spaced below the slot, as shown in FIG. 5.

An elongated bar 22 has one shallow threaded end 24 Patented Mar. 4,1969 which extends through hole 16 and receives a nut 26. The shallowthread on 24 allows the nut 26 to be hand tightened. The other end 28 ofthe bar is externally" threaded and is provided with an axial bore 30which rotatably receives a bolt 32. Bolt 32 extends axially through acoil spring 34 and through an internally threaded member 36.

More specifically, the member 36 includes an end cap having a centralthrough bore 42 through which the shank of the bolt 32 extends. Theinternally threaded portion of member 36 threadedly engages the threadedend 28 of the bar 22. Provided in a substantially flat locking member 40is a threaded passage 38 which engages the threaded end of the bolt 32.The locking member 40 is sized to slide through the slot 18 when themember 40 is oriented in a horizontal plane.

In operation, when it is desired to mount a roll of towels 44 on thetowel holder of the invention, the member 40 is rotated until it isaligned with the slot 18. The bar 22 then is moved toward the left untilthe member 40 passes through the slot 18. The bar is moved downwardly toa position as indicated by the dashed line position of FIG. 1 and thetowel roll 44 is mounted thereon (i.e., the bar 22 extends axiallythrough the towel roll). The member 40 is passed through the slot 18until the juxtaposed leg 12 abuts the end cap of the member 36. Thelocking member 40 is rotated to a vertical position to prevent themember from again passing through the slot 18, thereby to securely lockthe roll of towels 44 on the holder. In this latter position, the member40 is received between the upper projections 50 and the lowerprojections 50 to prevent the accidental rotation of the member to theunlocked position.

It is specifically emphasized that the present construction providesmeans for selectively varying the tension of the legs 12 on the roll 44thereby to control the freedom of movement of the roll. Moreparticularly, the spring 34 bears against the head of the bolt 32 at oneend and against the end cap of the member 36 at the other end.Additionally, the inner edge of the locking member 40 bears against theouter surface of the righthand leg 12, as shown in FIG. 3. Accordingly,as the member 36 is tightened on the end 28 of the bar 22, the spring 34is compressed between the head of the bolt 32 and the member 36. As aresult, an increased inwardly directed biasing force is applied to theright-hand leg 12 by means of the member 40 which is rigidly connectedwith the bolt 32 via the above-noted threaded connection, therebycausing the leg 12 to restrict the freedom of rotation of the roll 44.On the other hand, if it is desired to decrease the pressure on the roll44, the member 36 is rotated in the opposite direction.

Accordingly, a towel holder has been described in which a roll of towelseasily may be mounted and the pressure on the roll selectively varied toobtain a desired freedom of movement of the roll.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to thedrawings, rny protection is to be limited only by the terms of theclaims which follow.

Having thus described my invention, I'claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A paper towel holder comprising a frame having an elongatedhorizontal member and opposed legs depending from the respective ends ofsaid member, a respective opening in each of said legs, a substantiallyhorizontal towel supporting bar, one end of said bar being slideablyreceived through the opening in one of said legs, means on said one endof said bar for preventing movement of said one end through thecorresponding opening in said one leg, rotatable locking means on theother end of said bar movable between a first position wherein saidlocking means is slidable through the opening in said other leg and asecond position wherein said locking means bears against the outersurface of said other leg, and adjustable biasing means for resilientlybiasing said locking means toward said bar to bias said other leginwardly when said locking means is in said second position to exert aselective pressure on a roll of towels received between said legs.

2. A paper towel holder as in claim 1, in which the slot in said otherleg comprises an elongated opening, and said locking means comprises afiat elongated member sized to slide through said elongated slot whensaid locking means is in said first position, and to extend above andbelow said slot to engage said outer surface of said other leg when saidlocking means. is in said second position.

3. A paper towel holder as in claim 1, in which said biasing meansincludes a cap threaded on said other end of said bar, a bolt having ahead at one end and a threaded portion at the other end received withinsaid bar andhaving said threaded portion extending through said cap,said threaded portion threadedly engaging said locking means,

4 and a spring received between the end of said cap and the head of saidbolt to bias the head of said bolt away from said cap, whereby saidlocking means is biased inwardly towards said bar.

4. A paper towel holder as in claim 1, in which said other leg isprovided with outwardly directed extensions sized and positioned toreceive said locking means therebetween when said locking means is insaid second position to prevent the accidental movement of said lockingmeans to said first position.

5. A paper towel holder as in claim 3, in which the spring is a coilspring and the tension on said spring is varied by rotating said cap onsaid bar, thereby to adjust the pressure on the roll of towels.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 813,128 2/ 1906 Williams.1,101,862 6/1914 'Lie'beck 242-55.2 1,431,513 10/1922 Cox 287113 X1,693,877 12/1928 Uttz 242-552 2,348,071 5/ 1944 Johnstone 287-113FOREIGN PATENTS 28,857 1904 Great Britain.

GEORGE F. MAUTZ, Primary Examiner.

